The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Allysha1990]

It may have been that the rooster we tried to pluck was a 2 year old RIR? Every video we watched of people skinning was done on a hen

 

[fosterson]

Yeah. I was reading up on that. Sounds like the NNs just have WAY less feathers in general, so wouldn't have as many to pluck. These 'yard' birds I've been culling for eating tend to be mixed breeds of all sorts and vary a LOT on how much feather they have on em. I have to say, though, a properly plucked, skin on, roasted bird IS a beauty to behold when it's cooked!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Ok, so I am going to throw a question out there and I know I could have started a thread but I feel like it won't be a huge topic so I didn't bother. How do you clean out your hen's nesting boxes without getting the hens out of routine or upset? My one hen that likes to lay in a particular box must have gotten quite upset with me yesterday after I cleaned out her poop-filled box because this morning I found her egg on top of the highest rafter in the coop.
Will she get used to the cleaning, or will I just have to go on egg hunts every few weeks?

We check for poo & broken eggs first thing in the morning and whenever we gather the eggs, which we do at least a couple times per day. Remove the soiled hay (we use hay to line the nesting boxes), add new hay. That way the boxes don't need to be completely changed out.

The younger birds like to try to sleep in the nesting boxes which messes up a box in a hurry, so we do a couple things to discourage that ... one of those things is go around after dark and shoo the birds from the boxes. Other, probably more clever people, close their nesting boxes in the late afternoon after the final egg gathering. But sometimes a bird needs to lay right before bedtime, so I like her to have a nest available.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I started skinning instead of plucking and never had any trouble skinning, but after I started processing NN I tried plucking "just to see how hard it was" and I gotta say I will never skin a NN again!!!! Not only was it amazingly easy and quick, but no hair to singe!!!!

About plucking ...

I've been plucking some BBB Turkeys lately. Most of the feathers on the hens are super easy ... you can practically wipe them away. The toughest part is how they stick to you. The toms ... Ugh!!!!! Don't get the scald temperature just right (and that temperature seems to be different for every bird) and the feathers are hard to remove whole. Too cold and the feathers break, too hot and the shaft dissolves enough it stays right where it is and is too soft to remove without a lot of attention. Add in the bonus of the inky "liquid feather" stuff and it is a royal PITA.

I am seriously considering investing in a plucker, but am not sure what kind would work for a 50 lb bird. The videos of big birds in featherman pluckers don't impress me much.

Of course I'm not sure I'll do this many turkeys again anyway ... my marketing partner didn't work out, I HATE selling stuff, so now I have a couple freezers full of ginormous birds ... le sigh.

I do anticipate the need for a plucker now that I'm starting a Delaware project. My grow-out pen is already full of mutt roosters awaiting processing ... I'm too much of a wimp to kill them so can't process them myself ... my processing partner had a family emergency and is out of the country dealing with that.

About half of this year's turkeys went to the processing plant ... kinda defeats the purpose of the "Farm Fresh" bird, IMO ... but it was a small enough plant we know our birds were processed in an exclusive batch, and that is something anyway.

 

[Kassaundra]

A couple of the flock enjoying sprouts

 

[Allysha1990]

We check for poo & broken eggs first thing in the morning and whenever we gather the eggs, which we do at least a couple times per day. Remove the soiled hay (we use hay to line the nesting boxes), add new hay. That way the boxes don't need to be completely changed out.

The younger birds like to try to sleep in the nesting boxes which messes up a box in a hurry, so we do a couple things to discourage that ... one of those things is go around after dark and shoo the birds from the boxes. Other, probably more clever people, close their nesting boxes in the late afternoon after the final egg gathering. But sometimes a bird needs to lay right before bedtime, so I like her to have a nest available.

I have checked in the afternoon and at night for eggs but so far I haven't found any. I think my hen is laying them early in the morning?

 

[armorfirelady]

Well I can say raccoon is the only carcass we had to get rid of as nothing touched it when we left it out.

I don't think I would try one, there are certain things cooking doesn't kill and well ... it's a raccoon! Eww! Plus with the rabbit population here we won't ever starve.

We used our poor beheaded broody to bait the trap and this morning at 4 am caught a mink. Can't believe it set off a raccoon trap with how light it looked.
That thing was evil! Took a video of it screaming at us on my phone but not sure I can figure out how to post it.

Tanning the hides would be an interesting thing to learn, it does feel like a total waste.

I've been told that mink can for in holes that are an inch in size. I can't believe they can get in holes so small

 

[Shan30]

I estimated the hole it got through to be about an inch and a half.

We put a block of wood over it for now but will be screwing down a drain cover since we do use it as a drain so we can hose everything down on very rare occasion.

What a first year and a half of chicken keeping, hawks, sour crop, bears, MG, lice, raccoons and a mink. Pretty quiet all in all
It has inspired us to attach a dog run to the barn when we build it so Red can patrol. If I could make it so she could go in with them but they couldn't follow her out, I would.

I must say the best knowledge I have gained (don't tell my farmer parents) has come from this thread. Really my friends should thank you as well since they now all have chickens and call me when they need help.

 

[delisha]

Okay.

I have a really STUPID question.

I've gotten two different flocks of 'rescue' birds over the last few months. NONE of them roost on a roost. They make little nests in the bedding and sleep there.

Is this really an issue? Other than the obvious dangers of a predator getting into the coop, is there a problem with them sleeping in the floor? I've got 25 linear feet worth of roosts and not a dang one of them will sleep on them. Even if I put them up there myself at night. They're in the bedding the next morning.

The only stupid question is the one unasked.

A few of my larger birds do not roost with the other birds. I made a small roost that is just over my deep litter. All it is really is a square 2x6 that 4 large birds can fit on if they want. Just two of the birds use it now.
It does not harm the birds unless you have small rodents and they can get at them during the night to chew on feathers. I just feel better having them off the ground. It does not harm them. My female silkie is on the ground, the male roosts. She will roost with him but I have to put her up every night.

Ok, so I am going to throw a question out there and I know I could have started a thread but I feel like it won't be a huge topic so I didn't bother. How do you clean out your hen's nesting boxes without getting the hens out of routine or upset? My one hen that likes to lay in a particular box must have gotten quite upset with me yesterday after I cleaned out her poop-filled box because this morning I found her egg on top of the highest rafter in the coop.
Will she get used to the cleaning, or will I just have to go on egg hunts every few weeks?

I do not worry about the hens getting upset. I clean the nest boxes daily of debris or poo. I do not have poo in them very often, but I do not like it in there at all. Poo on my eggs gross me out.

A couple of the flock enjoying sprouts

I need to do this..this winter..I did it last winter and have not started yet this winter.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
lol that thought came to mind too, but it wasn't my first. which is kind of un-repeatable in public forums...